


ad victoriam

by imposterhuman



Series: angsty post-endgame drabbles [7]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Angst, Avengers: Endgame (Movie) Spoilers, Fluff, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Nebula & Tony Stark Friendship, Nebula (Marvel) Feels, Nebula (Marvel) Needs a Hug, Paper football, Post-Avengers: Endgame (Movie), winning
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-11
Updated: 2019-05-11
Packaged: 2020-02-29 21:48:23
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 841
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18786868
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/imposterhuman/pseuds/imposterhuman
Summary: Nebula rarely won things.





	ad victoriam

**Author's Note:**

> title: latin, "to victory"
> 
> ENDGAME SPOILERS ENDGAME SPOILERS ENDGAME SPOILERS
> 
> because you cant tell me nebula didnt stay in touch with her space bff
> 
> enjoy!

Nebula rarely won things. Her first win was given to her by Tony Stark, playing paper football while floating in the void. She knew, now, that he had let her win, because he had seen that she needed it. She had just lost everything in one snap of her father’s fingers, but Tony gave her a victory. But at that moment, it had felt like a bright spot in a world of darkness, a sign that all was not lost. A sign that  _ she  _ had not lost.

 

He also gave her her most important win. With one snap of  _ his  _ fingers, he had defeated Thanos and his armies. Nebula had been on his side, cutting down soldiers until they all turned to dust. They had won.  _ She  _ had won.

 

But Tony gave her loss, tool. He died as a result; humans were not meant to harness the power of six Infinity Stones. Her first real friend was the cost of their victory that day, and Nebula couldn’t help but to wonder if it was some sort of cosmic trade. She had gotten her sister, gotten her sister’s team (who she was reluctant to label as her own, much as the racoon had grown on her), but she had lost the man who made it possible. 

 

Nebula wasn’t sure why she was still at the Stark farm, why she hadn’t fled the cloying grief. She knew, deep down, it was because she  _ owed  _ Tony. He had showed her that she was human, not just a machine. He had showed her that she could be more than what Thanos had made her. And for that, she couldn’t just leave with a tear and a backwards glance. 

 

The little house was crowded with mourners, Tony’s wife at its center. Nebula had always admired Pepper; they had met over the five long years, whenever Nebula was on Earth. She admired the woman’s strength, too. Pepper was holding it together admirably for a woman who had just lost the love of her life. 

 

Morgan was nowhere to be seen, though. Nebula would have thought her glued to her mother's side. If not, then to one of her many uncles. But the girl had disappeared entirely. 

 

Nebula knew a little bit about hiding, and she had been trained well to find hiders. It was the work of minutes to locate the little girl, under the bed in an empty room. Nebula purposely made her steps heavy, letting the girl know she was there. 

 

“Morgan?” she called gently, more gentle than she thought herself capable. She sat down on the bed. 

 

Morgan poked her head out from under the bed. “Hi, Auntie Nebula,” she said, voice thick with tears. 

 

“Do you want to come out, little one?” asked Nebula. 

 

“I guess,” Morgan said softly. She shimmied out, dust clinging to her clothes. Trustingly, she plopped herself in Nebula’s lap, as if the woman couldn't snap her neck with barely a breath. But Nebula would rather die than hurt the child, even if Morgan didn’t know that yet. 

 

“Why are you hiding?” Nebula said, stroking a hand through Morgan’s hair. It was the same color as Tony’s, she noted. When she had been younger, just born, it was a few shades lighter. 

 

Morgan shrugged. “I miss Daddy,” she said whispered. “When I’m under the bed, he comes to get me.”

 

Nebula was hit with the same feeling of loss that had been dogging her steps since the battle. It wasn’t  _ fair  _ that Tony was gone, not when he left holes like this in everyone who loved him. “I know,” she soothed, thinking of her friend. “I miss him, too. But he saved us all, you know. He’s the reason we won.”

 

“ _I_ didn’t win,” Morgan’s voice was barely a breath. She was too young, Nebula knew, to feel like that. She was reminded of a spaceship, years and years ago, and the feeling of paper between her fingertips and victory on her lips.

 

“Go, little Stark,” Nebula ordered. “Bring me a piece of paper.”

 

Morgan hopped off the bed and complied, looking a little confused. “Here, Auntie Nebula,” she said, her small and smooth hands (free of the calluses she and Tony had on their trigger fingers, free of scars and the pain of living) passing a blank sheet off of the side table to Nebula. Nebula laid down on her stomach, hanging her legs off of the side of the bed. She gestured for Morgan to do the same across from her.

 

With deft movements, Nebula folded the paper into the triangle shape that Tony had showed her so long ago. “Put your fingers up,” she said, demonstrating with her own hands. “Like this.”

 

“Okay,” said Morgan, moving her hands to make the crude goal. “Now what?”

 

“Now, child...” Nebula lined up her shot. On purpose, she flicked it wide, missing the goal. She handed the paper ball to the little girl, who was looking up at Nebula with wide eyes. “Now, I’ll teach you how to win.”

**Author's Note:**

> hope you liked it!
> 
> comments and kudos make me happy
> 
> catch me on tumblr: https://imposter-human.tumblr.com/


End file.
